By exploring the relations among functional equations, harmonic analysis and representation theory,
we give a unified and very accessible approach to solve three important functional equations -
the d'Alembert equation, the Wilson equation, and the d'Alembert long equation -
on compact groups.

In this paper, we prove that a non--zero power series $F(z)\in\mathbb{C}
[\mkern-3mu[ z]\mkern-3mu]
$
satisfying $$F(z^d)=F(z)+\frac{A(z)}{B(z)},$$ where $d\geq 2$, $A(z),B(z)\in\mathbb{C}[z]$
with $A(z)\neq 0$ and $\deg A(z),\deg B(z)Keywords:functional equations, transcendence, power seriesCategories:11B37, 11J81

Let $G$ be a compact group. Let $\sigma$ be a continuous involution
of $G$. In this paper, we are
concerned by the following functional equation
$$\int_{G}f(xtyt^{-1})\,dt+\int_{G}f(xt\sigma(y)t^{-1})\,dt=2g(x)h(y), \quad
x, y \in G,$$ where $f, g, h \colonG \mapsto \mathbb{C}$, to be
determined, are complex continuous functions on $G$ such that $f$ is
central. This equation generalizes d'Alembert's and Wilson's
functional equations. We show that the solutions are expressed by
means of characters of irreducible, continuous and unitary
representations of the group $G$.